I think though, that if my full-health level 3 fighter (the tankiest character in my group), facing off against a level 3 enemy archer can be killed before their first turn (on Normal difficulty) because of the combination of initial hit + poison status damage, that there's a little issue there. If the archer gets that shot off, there's no mitigating that damage, someone is flat-out dead, no chance to heal. Knowledge doesn't help.
While I like the current difficulty level of hard mode, I do agree with this. All element effects needs to be toned down a bit, and this goes both for enemies and players. As a player I can obliterate most enemies using fire before they are even close to hitting me. Elemental effects will still be worth it even if they are toned down 10-15%
